Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 113: Salvation
Dunqiu County Government.

Dongqiu County is a small county, even smaller than Liyang, but the county government office is quite good. Perhaps it is because there is no luxurious county government office opposite as a comparison, so it seems quite good.

At this moment, people lined up in a long queue on the road in front of the Dongqiu County Government Office.

The county officials trembled as they registered the people and distributed food.

There were two corpses lying on the side, one was an official in mourning clothes, and the other was a civilian in ordinary clothes.

There was a pool of blood on the ground, which had already solidified and was emitting a foul odor.

The clerks distributing food looked pale and didn't dare to look over there even once.

The people who were collecting food were not so scared anymore. At this moment, they were pointing at the pool of blood and whispering something.
"The Zhang family, the county official, was also accused of pretending to be a poor man to defraud grain, but was discovered."

"The barbarian officer came up and slashed his neck with his knife, killing him in agony."

"A good death!"

The people were whispering. Liu Taozi was sitting not far away. He was tall and strong. He half-closed his eyes, as if he was resting. Behind him, several officials were fiercely scrutinizing the crowd to make sure there would be no mistakes.

The county magistrate was not here, and County Magistrate Lu did not dare to spend a long time with Liu Taozi. He always used the excuse that he was old and sick and asked the county magistrate to come and keep him company.

The county magistrate was a young man named Chen, and seemed to be about the same age as Lu Qubing.

The look he gave Liu Taozi at this moment was extremely complicated.

They are all county magistrates, but the gap between them is truly unspeakable.

He was targeted by a group of petty officials in this county, and was exhausted. He was also questioned by his superiors and bullied by the powerful. All the enthusiasm he had to pass the examination was worn away. And looking at this person, also a county magistrate, he frightened the county magistrate so much that he dared not sleep for three or four days. After hearing about what happened in Liyang and Dongli, the county magistrate had nightmares every night. When he couldn't sleep, he called himself to play chess, and his hands holding the chess pieces trembled constantly.

The Li family of Liyang is the largest family in the entire Liyang County. Relying on their extremely high title, they do not take other big families seriously and only regard them as local tyrants and powerful families, and are unwilling to have too much contact with them.

All the other big families in Liyang County combined are not as powerful as the Li family.

But even such a powerful Li family was slaughtered by this man. I heard that the blood flowed like a river and the heads piled up like a mountain.

There is also the Wu family of Dongli. Although they are not a big family and are just a local tyrant, they are also famous for having many tenants and servants. They usually rely on their large number of guards to bully the passing caravans of big families.

As a result, they were also slaughtered by the person in front of him. I heard that they were slaughtered completely, and there was not even a living chicken in the entire Wu family.

When they heard that he was coming to Dongyu, the heads of the wealthy families in Dongyu fled overnight and went to live in Yecheng.

County Magistrate Chen looked at Liu Taozi with envy. He tried to approach her and talk to her several times, but he couldn't find a chance.

At this moment, a farmer was seen walking quickly out of the queue. His abnormality immediately caused everyone's surprise. The man walked quickly towards Taozi, but before he got close, he was pressed to the ground by several county officials.

"Mr. Mandrill!! Please help me!! Help me!!"

The man lay on the ground and began to cry loudly.

Several Dunqiu officials were horrified when they heard this, and some of them drew their swords immediately, "How dare you humiliate Lord Liu."

"open!"

As soon as Liu Taozi opened her mouth, several county officials hurriedly dispersed. The man got up from the ground, walked to Taozi crying, and knelt down.

"Mandrill! Please save me!!"

"What's your grievance?"

A county official was terrified and shouted, "Wang Laosan! You can't talk nonsense in front of Mr. Liu!"

Liu Taozi looked at Yao Xiong who was standing aside. Yao Xiong was stunned for a moment, then he reacted, walked forward, swung his hand, and slapped the county official in the face. The county official turned around twice and fell to the ground.

Yao Xiong fiercely looked at the fallen county official and cursed: "How can you speak when Liu Gong is questioning you? If you dare to open your mouth again, I will let you try my sword!!"

Liu Taozi looked at the person seeking justice in front of her.

This was an elderly man, wearing tattered clothes, with unkempt hair and a dirty face, covered in mud, like a corpse. Taozi couldn't even see his appearance clearly.

"Shanxiao Gong, Zhou Sengyan, the second son of Zhou Gong's family in the north of the city, raped my daughter and forced her to commit suicide. My son went to him to argue, but he threw him into the well and drowned him. Then he led people into my house and beat me and my wife. My wife was weak to begin with, and they beat her to death!!"

"I went to the county government office to file a complaint, but no one accepted it. I stayed at the door and refused to leave, so they threw buckets of arrows at me and set dogs on me."

"Mr. Mandrill, please help me. My family members cannot rest in peace."

The old man's tone became increasingly strange, as if he wanted to cry but couldn't.

Yao Xiong and the others all looked at Liu Taozi. Liu Taozi looked at the old man calmly, "Do you have any evidence?"

The old man took out a few coins from his pocket with trembling hands and placed them in front of him with trembling hands.

"This is the compensation they gave me after they beat my family members to death. I have kept it all the time. I have kept it all the time."

The old man seemed a little abnormal.

Liu Taozi shook her head, "This is not enough."

Yao Xiong was a little anxious and wanted to speak, but Liu Taozi looked at the people in front of him and asked, "Is there any witness?"

After hearing these words, the scene became even quieter.

The people looked at the old man Wang kneeling on the ground and talking nonsense, and then looked at the officials around them who lowered their heads but looked fierce, and thought of their parents at home.
There was obvious anger, confusion and hesitation on the faces of the people.

Seeing that everyone was silent, a few clerks breathed a sigh of relief.

Untouchables are lowly.
"I can testify to this!!"

Then a sturdy man pushed the person in front of him away and walked out. He said in a muffled voice, "When those people broke into Mr. Wang's house and committed murder, I tried to stop them and was punched several times by them. I can testify to this!!"

After hearing this man speak, several young people came out.

"We can also testify!! The Wang family girl was forcibly taken away in Dongqu Alley, and we were unable to stop her!"

"We can also testify! The three officials who released the dogs were Li Sheng, Zhang Chi, and Zhou Xingfeng!"

I saw one person after another coming out, and in a short while, dozens or even a hundred people came out.

They stood together, looking angrily at the officials in front of them. Their momentum was overwhelming. The minor official turned pale and slowly retreated.

"Yao Xiong."

"Oh!!"

The evil ghosts reacted and rushed forward. The petty officials wanted to run but couldn't. Yao Xiong brandished his knife and, in front of the people, chopped down the three men one after another until they could no longer move.

"Hey man, lead the way for these people."

Liu Taozi pointed at the first person who stood up, then looked at Yao Xiong, "Go and bring me the heads of those people."

"only!!"

Liu Taozi then continued, "As fellow villagers, we should take care of each other. If you are alone, you will be bullied by evil spirits. If something like this happens again, you should gather together to resist. If they dare to bully you, just fight them. They have few people and you have many. What are you afraid of?!"

"It doesn't matter if you kill them, I will take care of it"

County Magistrate Chen, who was standing by, felt his entire body go numb as he listened, and he became unconsciously excited.

The people looked at Liu Taozi in amazement. Suddenly, they all knelt down in front of Liu Taozi, "Mr. Mandrill!!!"

Liu Taozi narrowed her eyes again and maintained the same posture of resting with her eyes closed.

There were a few more corpses on the ground, and the smell of blood became stronger.

The petty officials worked even harder, and even smiled when they looked at the people, showing their teeth. The people had never seen such expressions on the county officials' faces.

Everyone received the food one by one.

After waiting for an unknown amount of time, Yao Xiong, covered in blood, swaggered over with several strings of human heads.

"Hey! You! It's you! County Magistrate of Dunqiu, the prisoner is now in your hands!"

Yao Xiong threw a bunch of heads to County Magistrate Chen. County Magistrate Chen looked at the heads and then at Old Man Wang. "Wang, these criminals have all been executed. Do you have any other requests? Are there any criminals who have not been caught yet?"

Old Man Wang stared at the heads in a daze and remained silent for a long time.

He suddenly raised his head and looked at the county magistrate, and a smile slowly appeared on his face.

He shook his head and suddenly fell down.

Several people came forward to support.

But he had stopped breathing, and went to the other side with a smile on his face.

"That old man Wang is really miserable, alas."

"I think he was just holding on to that last breath, wanting to see his enemy brought to justice. Once his enemy died, he couldn't hold on any longer."

On the way back, Yao Xiong was discussing the affairs of Dongqiu with several cavalry officers.

They have finished their business in Dongqiu and can return to Liyang.

Actually, they didn't kill many people in Dongqiu. They stayed there for a few days and killed less than 20 people. But things went very smoothly. The wealthy families were frantically transporting grain to the county government, one cart after another. They didn't dare to stop until Liu Taozi asked them to. Yao Xiong even thought that if his brother stayed for a few more days, these wealthy families might have to go out to beg on the street.

When Taozi left Dongqiu, all the officials and wealthy people in the city saw him off with tears in their eyes, their eyes filled with reluctance to leave.

The group returned to Liyang, but Liyang had become exceptionally lively. Many people gathered at the city gate. Yao Xiong was in a trance for a moment. It turned out that this small county town could be as noisy as Cheng'an.

The county government's tasks such as grain distribution were also completed, and the tranquility in front of the county government office returned to its former state.

Upon learning that Taozi was coming, everyone in the county government office hurried over to pay their respects.

Tian Zili reported the situation in the city after Taozi left.

Everyone was chatting enthusiastically, except Liu Taozi, who was frowning at the moment, and no one knew what he was thinking about.

Seeing Taozi's appearance, Tian Zili hurriedly looked at the rest of the people.

"My lord, you must be exhausted after traveling so we should not disturb you. Let's all go out."

Liu Taozi spoke up, "Zili, Xiong, you stay."

The two stayed in the house, and the rest of the people left.

Tian Zili asked: "Brother, do you have any instructions?"

"You two come with me."

"Where to go?"

"Pray to the Buddha."

When Liu Taozi, Tian Zili and Yao Xiong appeared in front of Chongguang Temple, they found that it was far less lively than before.

In the past, the city was very desolate, but this place was the most lively. Now, the city is becoming noisy, but this place has become particularly quiet.

The gates of all the temples were closed and there was no one in sight.

The patrolling warrior monks, the guest monks guarding the gate, and the pilgrims coming in and out of the past are no longer seen.

The three men rode on their horses and looked at the closed door in front of them.

Liu Taozi glanced at Yao Xiong, who hurried forward on his horse. He shouted at the door, "My county magistrate is here! Open the door quickly!"

His voice was exceptionally loud and could be heard from far away.

After a while, a foreign monk was seen sticking his head out from the courtyard wall.

The structure of Chongguang Temple does not look like a busy temple, but rather like a castle of a wealthy family. People can climb up their courtyard walls, which are almost as tall as the city walls of Dongqiu County.

The monk looked at the three people below timidly, and Liu Taozi recognized this guy.

When Liu Taozi came here for the first time, he was stopped by this guy.

At this moment, he no longer had the arrogance he had before. He shouted, "Mr. County Magistrate!! We are practicing in seclusion and cannot see any guests during this period of time!!"

Yao Xiong was furious. He shouted, "My master has come to worship Buddha! How dare you not open the door? If you still don't open the door, I will set fire to your Zen temple!"

The Hu monk's head disappeared immediately.

There was silence ahead. Just as Yao Xiong was cursing, the door of the temple was slowly pushed open. The foreign monk walked out rather stiffly, walked in front of the three people, and hurriedly bowed to greet them.

"I pay my respects to Mr. Liu."

"I want to worship Buddha, lead the way."

Liu Taozi spoke.

The Hu monk didn't dare to say anything more. He gestured behind him, and someone pushed the door open, making it completely open. Then he turned sideways and made an invitation gesture.

Liu Taozi did not dismount, but slowly walked into Chongguang Temple.

It was indeed quiet inside the Chongguang Temple. There was no one around. All that could be seen was the flat gravel road, various luxurious buildings, and the tall pagoda in the distance.

There are many Buddha statues in front of the main hall. These Buddha statues have smiling faces and are facing forward.

Although he has a kind appearance, he looks eerie no matter how you look at him, without any sense of sacredness at all.

Liu Taozi looked around very seriously. Seeing that he was interested in the temple, the Hu monk walked beside the green lion and enthusiastically told Liu Taozi about the situation in the temple.

"That is the main hall, where the six Buddhas are enshrined. That is the pilgrimage hall, where pilgrims worship the Buddha and burn incense. That is where the monks live."

Liu Taozi nodded slightly.

However, Yao Xiong sensed something was wrong. Although it was very quiet around him, he always had a feeling that he was being spied on. The feeling was very strange. Yao Xiong could not help but look around, but the feeling disappeared immediately.

Yao Xiong slowly placed his hand on the hilt of the knife. Tian Zili also narrowed his eyes, his expression becoming increasingly unfriendly.

In front of the monks’ quarters in the distance, a group of monks hurriedly lay down in front of the rockery, and the leader cursed: “Damn it, that guy just glanced over here, could he have seen us?”

The atmosphere became somewhat depressing.

Even the Hu monk looked a little strange at the moment. Sweat kept coming out of his forehead, he spoke hesitantly, and kept shaking.

They just walked around Chongguang Temple reluctantly.

Then, they returned the same way and headed towards the gate of Soko-ji Temple.

The monk Hu stopped talking. He just looked ahead quietly. Yao Xiong and Tian Zilie also held knives and followed Liu Taozi.

As they slowly approached the gate, suddenly, someone walked out from the side.

No one knew how they appeared, they suddenly appeared, there were about ten of them in total. Yao Xiong was about to draw his sword, but Liu Taozi signaled him to hold back.

The leader was an old monk with a kind and amiable face.

He walked up to Liu Taozi with a smile and bowed.

"I learned that Mr. Liu was coming, so I came out of seclusion to pay my respects to you. I am Ayana, the abbot of Chongguang Temple."

"Well, just came to take a look."

"Hahaha, Mr. Liu has a very murderous nature. You should come to the temple more often. Mr. Liu, you have committed too much sin of killing. I can see that there are more than a hundred wronged souls behind you. They are now showing their fangs and claws and want to take your life."

Hearing this, Yao Xiong trembled all over and looked around in fear, as if there really was something dirty.

Liu Taozi looked behind him calmly.

"more than."

"Ok??"

"There should be more than a hundred."

Ayana's lips trembled, and then he forced a kind smile.

"I just want to persuade Mr. Liu that people should be kind and have a good heart. How can they kill people and create such karma?"

"If you have time, I can recite sutras and chant Buddha's name for you to help you liberate the wronged souls around you. In this way, they can't hinder your blessings, and perhaps you can soar into the sky and be unstoppable!"

Liu Taozi just looked at him coldly without saying anything.

Seeing his expression, Ayan sighed, "I am not talking nonsense. The Buddhas in our main hall are very effective. You may not know that my master is very friendly with the current empress dowager. They have many correspondences. The empress dowager has even come here to worship the Buddha in person."

"Until now, the Queen Mother has been asking about our situation from time to time, and we have also sent some magical instruments to her. It is because of the Queen Mother that Governor Lou is very friendly with us."

"After some time, perhaps the Queen Mother will come to Chongguang Temple to recite Buddhist scriptures for the late Emperor and help him reach the paradise sooner."

Ayan spoke slowly, his head kept raised, with an inexplicable smile in his eyes.

They dared to form an alliance with the county governor and local powerful people openly, so they naturally had their own support, and their support was the Empress Dowager Lou of the current dynasty. It was because of her that Lou Rui was so polite to them and even helped them to develop in-depth cooperation with the local big families.

Therefore, although Ayanna was wary of Liu Taozi, she was not afraid of him.

Now that the late emperor is gone, the empress dowager has the final say in the entire Da Qi.

You are just a ninth-rank county magistrate, how dare you go against the Empress Dowager?

Ayana also found out who Taozi's backers were.

He is just the King of Changshan, the Queen Mother's son, and he has to be as obedient as a civet cat in front of the Queen Mother.

What can you do?

Liu Taozi faced his smug look and suddenly smiled. He opened his mouth wide, revealing his white teeth.

Ayan suddenly shuddered and subconsciously took a few steps back.

"It's so effective. I'll come here to worship Buddha again in a few days. When the time comes, I'll trouble you to help me pray for my soul to be reborn."

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(End of this chapter)